40 he was fed up “with these Russian pigs” Johnson, p. 128.
41 “I don’t like Russian hospitality and the people themselves. It seems they don’t like me either.” Postcard from Bobby Fischer to Jack Collins, July 1958, JWC.
42 In mid-July, one hundred thousand irate Soviet citizens NYT, July 19, 1958, p. 1.
43 The situation was serious enough that Gerhardt Fischer, Bobby’s father of record, feared Joan and Bobby might be in great danger Letter from Gerhardt Fischer to Regina Fischer, August 4, 1958, MCF.
44 The only times he left the hotel were to play the two matches Mednis, p. 3.
45 Top players in the United States predicted that Bobby wouldn’t qualify for a place in the Candidates this time CR, October 1958, p. 315.
46 Bobby, though, seemed to feel that he’d make short work of his competitors Plisetsky and Voronkov, p. 15.
47 Lombardy had captured the World Junior Championship by winning every game, and he was a formidable player NYT Magazine, February 23, 1958, p. SM 38.
48 “Bobby brushes his teeth daily but has more difficulty in taking a bath.” Postcard from Lombardy to Regina Fischer, circa 1958, in DeLucia and DeLucia, 2009, p. 49.
49 Lombardy also conveyed his initial impressions of Portorož CL, October 1958, p. 314.
50 Regina wrote to Joan that she was worried Lombardy might be damning Bobby with faint praise Letter from Regina Fischer to Joan Fischer, circa 1958, MCF.
51 “Bobby really didn’t need Lombardy” Author’s interview of James T. Sherwin, February 27, 2009, by telephone.
52 One difficulty arose when Lombardy had to leave the tournament for several days Letter from Regina Fischer to Joan Fischer, August 1956, MCF.
53 Lombardy reported the following remarks about his friend Bobby CR, October 1958, p. 314.
54 Bobby’s managing to avoid a loss in his first European tournament “highlighted a noteworthy turn in chess history” New York World-Telegram and Sun, August 16, 1958.
55 Fischer off form in debut abroad NYT, August 17, 1958, p. S4.
56 he was actually the prototype of the grandmaster character Kronsteen in the James Bond film From Russia with Love Basalla, p. 142.
57 He was a fiercely attacking player, but at the board he’d often seem as if in a trance Golombek, Golombek’s Encyclopedia, p. 48.
58 Fischer had publicly announced before the tournament that there might be one player who could defeat him: Bronstein Tal, p. 105.
59 At the Marshall Chess Club, where players were analyzing the Interzonal games as they were cabled in from Portorož, there was near-delirium when word arrived of the draw CR, October 1958, p. 291.
60 “Bronstein?!” people were saying incredulously, almost whooping, as if the Soviet player were Goliath, and Bobby as David had stood up to him Schonberg, p. 230.
61 So great was the impact of that game that club members began planning a party for the returning hero CR, October 1958, p. 315.
62 Years later, Fischer would judge the Larsen game one of the best he ever played Fischer, My 60 Memorable Games, p. 18.
63 “Fischer won with amazing ease” CR, November 1958, p. 342.
64 Writing to Collins, he explained: “I never should have lost” Letter from Bobby Fischer to Jack Collins, no date, JWC.
65 “Nobody sacrifices a piece against Fischer” Ibid.
66 The New York Times was exuberant in running a salute to Bobby on its editorial page NYT, September 14, 1958, p. E10.
67 “Remember, next year I will have to attend the tournament of Candidates before I can think of meeting Botvinnik.” New York World-Telegram and Sun, September 12, 1958.
68 “One thing is certain—I am not going to be a professional chess player.” United Press International wire report, September 13, 1958.
69 Bobby felt manhandled in both Moscow and Portorož PRO, p. 168.
70 “That looks Continental,” he said in a courtly manner NYT, September 16, 1958, p. 29.
71 Six days after Bobby’s arrival back in the United States, the Marshall Chess Club followed through on its intentions and held a reception for him New York World-Telegram and Sun, September 29, 1958.
72 A week later Bobby was back at the Marshall to play in the weekly speed tournament New York World-Telegram and Sun, October 4, 1958.
73 But Collins also showed Bobby a father’s love Newsday, September 23, 1992.
74 Raymond Weinstein, a strong international master and a student of Collins, wrote Unpublished autobiographical essay by Raymond Weinstein, circa 1958, FB.
75 “If someone was willing to pay $50” Interview of Asa Hoffmann by author, March 2008, New York.
Chapter 5: The Cold War Gladiator
Bobby Fischer’s letters to his mother and to Jack Collins provided the most telling of the sources for this chapter. Information regarding his preference for radio shows and how that had an effect on his religious beliefs came from an interview with Bobby and from his conversations with the author.
1 J. H. Donner, the gigantic Dutch grandmaster, noted the contrast Elsevier Weekend, June 13, 1959.
2 “laconic as the hero of an old cowboy movie.” NYT, September 11, 1958, p. 46.
3 Fischer was the only American, and to many he was the tournament’s dark knight Plisetsky and Voronkov, p. 21.
4 he learned the Serbo-Croatian word for “first” Wade and O’Connell, essay in Leonard Barden, From Portorož to Petrosian (New York: Doubleday and Co., 1972), p. 331.
5 Bobby’s second, the great Danish player Bent Larsen, who was there to help him Letter from Bobby Fischer to Regina Fischer, October 1959, MCF.
6 One Russian master, Igor Bondarevsky, wrote that Plisetsky and Voronkov, p. 16.
7 Bobby, for his part, was livid at the seeming collusion Letter from Bobby Fischer to Regina Fischer, October 9, 1959, MCF.
8 Tal was an encyclopedia of kinetic movement Letter from Bobby Fischer to Regina Fischer, 1959, MCF.
9 Tal’s coach Igor Bondarevsky referred to his charge’s movements as “circling around the table like a vulture” Plisetsky and Voronkov, p. 31.
10 Since Tal’s body language was so bizarre, Fischer interpreted it as an attempt to annoy him Candidates Tournament, 1959, newsreel footage, no date, YouTube, accessed December 9, 2009.
11 and he told the organizers that Tal should be thrown out of the tournament Letter from Bobby Fischer to Regina Fischer, October 11, 1959, MCF.
12 He wrote a complaint about the chattering Handwritten statement of Bobby Fischer, October 1959, FB.
13 “Why did Tal say ‘cuckoo’ to me?” Letter from Bobby Fischer to Regina Fischer, 1959, MCF.
14 After that, a local Bled newspaper published a group of caricatures of all eight players DeLucia and DeLucia, p. 54.
15 She hoped she could talk him back into classes somewhere Letters from Regina Fischer to U.S. embassies in Mexico City and Buenos Aires, both December 15, 1958, MCF.